Feng Hsin Steel, Taiwan’s largest rebar producer, has decided to raise its rebar list price and buying price for locally-sourced scrap further for transactions over December 28-31 after noting the remarkable growth in global scrap prices, a company official confirmed on Tuesday.
With the latest adjustment, the mini-mill headquartered in Taichung, Central Taiwan, is offering its 13mm dia rebar at TWD 19,500/tonne ($694/t) EXW for sales till this Friday, soaring by another TWD 900/t from one week before. At the same time, the longs maker has lifted its buying price for locally-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap by TWD 600/t to TWD 10,900/t, Mysteel Global was told.
“As the sharp rise in global scrap prices has exceeded market expectations, we have had to raise our rebar sales price and buying price for local scrap accordingly to respond to the robust global scrap market,” Feng Hsin’s official said, adding that global scrap prices had grown much higher than Feng Hsin’s adjustment.
Though international scrap prices have been moving up since mid-October, the growth this month has been astounding, mainly due to the rapid recovery in demand at a time when supply is limited. As of December 28, the price of US-sourced HMS 1&2 80:20 scrap in Taiwan had surged to $450/t CFR Taiwan, jumping by another $45/t on week, or higher by $180/t from early October. As of the same day, that for Japan-origin H2 scrap had risen by $10/t on week to $460/t CFR Taiwan, according to a local market source.
Driven by the continuous rally in global scrap prices, since late October Feng Hsin’s rebar sales price has also been mirroring the uptrend, with the total rise over the past three months reaching TWD 4,200/t, Feng Hsin’s data showed.
The October-December quarter is the traditional peak season for steel consumption in Taiwan, especially for long steel, as many local construction contractors are trying to complete their projects before the Chinese New Year. Although rebar consumption has increased at the end of the year, in reaction to the high rebar prices most end-users are just preferring to purchase some products to fulfil their immediate demand, Mysteel Global understands.
Written by Nancy Zheng, zhengmm@mysteel.com
This article has been published under an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint Research.
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